Sixty percent of premature deaths are accounted for not by medical care or lack thereof, but by social circumstances, environmental conditions, and behavioral patterns. So perhaps the medical field on its own can't prevent them.

America's cities and towns have issued nearly $3 trillion in municipal bonds, yet are facing shrinking revenues, budget shortfalls and enormous pension obligations. There are fears that the next financial crisis will be municipal bankruptcies.

<p>Rolling Stone pundit Matt Taibbi writes that the media are missing the real story: that millions of Americans are financially drowning under home heating costs, gas prices and debt, and the middle class is disappearing.</p>